That the team ended a nearly 10-month layoff from high school sports in Milton, though, was not lost on the Red Hawks.

They fell 3-1 to New Berlin on Saturday at Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee. But head coach Steve Zartmann said the excitement of his players was clear.

“It didn’t end up exactly the way we wanted it to, but it was just nice to get a game under our belt,” Zartmann said. “It was just you’re on, you’re off, you’re on, you’re off. So I asked one of our kids before the game, ‘Are you excited?’ He said, ‘Coach, we haven’t played a high school competition since the end of last hockey season.’